Diary of an LSE stock trader

Trading Summary Week Ended 28th December 2018

23 Stock Trades:

2 AAL + 141 BPS.
2 BHP + 145 BPS.
4 FRES + 319 BPS.
2 GLEN + 79 BPS.
3 MCRO + 85 BPS.
10 UK100 + 506 BPS.

12 long trades + 726 BPS.
11 short trades + 549 BPS.
12 intra-day trades + 430 BPS.
11 multi-day trades + 845 BPS.
Stocks net + 1275 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 5.23 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 2.5.
Longest trade duration: 8 days.
Shortest trade duration: 5 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

A short week due to the Christmas holiday.
The FTSE made another new low for 2018 on Thursday, following a hugely volatile day on Wall Street, when the Dow rallied over a thousand points.

We have another half day on Monday, before New Year's Day.

Just over double my 2.5% weekly benchmark, some really fast moves on the FTSE this week, had to be agile. I have no idea if we have made a bottom yet.


Stay disciplined.
Stay focussed.
Stay humble.

 

Trading Summary Week Ended 4th January 2019

25 Trades:

3 AAL + 272 BPS.
1 BHP + 41 BPS.
1 BP + 107 BPS.
2 FRES + 134 BPS.
3 GLEN + 152 BPS.
1 RDSB + 8 BPS.
13 UK100 + 198 BPS.

7 long trades + 462 BPS.
18 short trades + 576 BPS.
16 intra-day trades + 241 BPS.
9 multi-day trades + 797 BPS.
Total trades net + 1038 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 2.79 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 3.5.
Longest trade duration: 27 days.
Shortest trade duration: 1 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

Another short week due to the New Year holiday.

Not many decent trades. The FTSE found some strength after dipping under 6600 on New Year's eve. We saw a powerful rally on Friday after US payrolls were better than the market expected.
Over my 2.5% weekly benchmark.
For the month of December I made 157 trades and made a return of just under 24%, which was my best month of the year.
Looking forward to more opportunities in the year ahead.

Stay disciplined.
Stay focussed.
Stay humble.

 

Trading Summary Week Ended 11th January 2019

26 Trades:

5 AAL + 587 BPS.
4 BHP + 435 BPS.
1 BP - 629 BPS.
4 FRES + 263 BPS.
3 GLEN - 658 BPS.
9 UK100 + 138 BPS.

20 long trades + 1483 BPS.
6 short trades - 1347 BPS.
14 intra-day trades + 759 BPS.
12 multi-day trades - 623 BPS.
Total trades net + 136 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 1.81 % net.
P:L ratio 2.5:1.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 37 days.
Shortest trade duration: 1 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

First full week after the New Year holiday.

Very difficult trading conditions, markets rallied strongly off the lows of the Christmas week, with the FTSE hitting 7000 again on Friday morning, before selling off later.

Took a few losses on BP and GLEN shorts (very poorly timed entries on both), offset by gains on BHP, AAL and UK100.

Well short of my 2.5% weekly benchmark.

Looking forward to better trading next week.

Stay disciplined.
Stay focussed.
Stay humble.

 

Trading Summary Week Ended 18th January 2019

21 Trades:

1 AAL + 49 BPS.
1 BHP + 96 BPS.
2 BP + 20 BPS.
1 FRES + 49 BPS.
1 GLEN + 15 BPS.
15 UK100 + 160 BPS.

9 long trades + 270 BPS.
12 short trades + 119 BPS.
14 intra-day trades + 164 BPS.
7 multi-day trades + 225 BPS.
Total trades net + 389 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 1.71 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 9 days.
Shortest trade duration: 2 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

Another difficult week. The FTSE sold off midweek but rallied strongly on Friday to just under 7000.

BREXIT filled the headlines this week, as the Commons voted against the PM's deal, and then the government managed to scrape through a vote of no confidence. Cable was very volatile, and this moved the commodity stocks around a fair bit.
Well short of my 2.5% weekly benchmark.

Looking forward to better trading next week.


Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.
Stay humble.

 

Can you describe what happens when a trade duration is one minute?
For example, with a trade duration of 37 days obviously there is a wide stop vs the 1 minute trade.
Are you beginning each trade with a super tight stop, then widening as time progresses?

 

Just looked like it was about to turn against me.

 

Discretionary exit

 

Trading Summary Week Ended 25th January 2019

17 Trades:

2 AAL + 187 BPS.
3 BHP + 103 BPS.
2 BP + 46 BPS.
3 GLEN + 89 BPS.
1 MTRO + 108 BPS.
6 UK100 + 49 BPS.

13 long trades + 454 BPS.
4 short trades + 128 BPS.
12 intra-day trades + 339 BPS.
5 multi-day trades + 243 BPS.
Total trades net + 582 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 1.13 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 10 days.
Shortest trade duration: 4 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

A quieter week. The FTSE was weaker, and tested the 6800 level on Thursday after last Friday's strong rally.
Not a great week for trading opportunities.
Well short of my 2.5% weekly benchmark.
Looking forward to better trading next week.


Stay disciplined.

Stay focussed.

Stay humble.

 

Trading Summary Week Ended 1st February 2019

16 Trades:

3 AAL + 1142 BPS.
1 BP + 95 BPS.
2 FRES + 800 BPS.
2 MTRO + 1998 BPS.
7 UK100 + 137 BPS.

10 long trades + 2062 BPS.
6 short trades + 2110 BPS.
6 intra-day trades + 68 BPS.
10 multi-day trades + 4104 BPS.
Total trades net + 4172 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 5.37 % net.
P:L ratio N/A.
Days traded: 4.
Longest trade duration: 238 days.
Shortest trade duration: 5 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

A short week as I had business away from my desk on Monday. Commodity stocks were strong with the FTSE mining index making its seventh higher high on Friday.

FTSE rallied back above 7000, after selling off to 6734 on Monday, a rebound of over 4%. The index was driven by the likes of BP and Shell, as well as the miners, but the financials didn't join the rally.
Well above my 2.5% weekly benchmark.
In the month of January I closed 102 trades for a net return of 12.8%. Stocks accounted for 59% of profits (higher than December).
Looking forward to decent opportunities in February.


Stay disciplined.
Stay focussed.
Stay humble.

 

Trading Summary Week Ended 8th February 2019

17 Trades:

1 BHP + 128 BPS.
1 BP - 596 BPS.
2 GLEN + 137 BPS.
13 UK100 + 135 BPS.

15 long trades + 815 BPS.
2 short trades - 1011 BPS.
8 intra-day trades + 123 BPS.
9 multi-day trades - 319 BPS.
Total trades net - 196 BPS.
Return on account for the week + 2.44 % net.
P:L ratio 2.2:1.
Days traded: 5.
Longest trade duration: 14 days.
Shortest trade duration: 17 min.
(All PNL expressed in basis points for the purpose of comparison.)

Thoughts

A difficult week. The equity markets made a strong recovery from last week's lows.
I took a loss on a short position on BP, after it rallied strongly post results.

(The disparity between the negative net BPS and the positive return is due to the UK100 trades being larger than the BP trade, which was a partial position closed).


Below my 2.5% weekly benchmark.

Looking forward to better trading opportunities next week.



Stay disciplined.
Stay focussed.
Stay humble.